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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/lettersfromcubabOOgrie 



letters from Cuba 

BY A SON TO HIS 
MOTHER 




Issued for Private 
Circulation 




By THOMAS GRAHAM GRIER 




Printed by The Waguer & Hanson, Company, Chicago 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Cooies Received 

JUL 9 1906 

^ Copyriffht Entry 



Dedicated to Our Best Friend 
Our Mothers 



d. 



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copybiqhted, junb, 1906, by 
Thomas Graham Grier 



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r e r a c e 



ETTERS from a traveler in foreign countries 
must be of merit to obtain the attention and 
hold the interest of the general public. 

Letters from a friend, who is seeing new 
sights and scenes carry with them the personal element, 
which allows the reader's imagination to make up for defi- 
ciencies in literary style and incompleteness of detail. 

I am indebted to many friends for my opportunities of 
travel, but my appreciation could only be expressed by an 
occasional souvenir postal card. 

There is so much to see, and so little time to write. 
While my friends had an interest in my journey, there 
was no one so close or interested as my mother, and my 
letters were written to her. 

Now that time permits, fourteen of these letters are 
being sent to you. As you read them, just turn back the 
pages of time, and travel in spirit with me. 

Many of the illustrations are reproductions of souvenir 
postal cards and pictures sent home with the letters. 

THOMAS GRAHAM GRIER. 



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LETTER I. 



Key West to Havana — Incidents on the Passage 
and on Landing — Wreck of the ''Maine/' 

Havana, February 16, 1906. 

The distance between Key West and Havana 
is about ninety miles. Late in the evening of the 
fourteenth of February we steamed out of Key 
West. My berth was in a state-room opening out 
on the upper deck, and even though it offered 
opportunity for ventilation, it was so hot that sleep 
was almost impossible. 

At five on the morning of the fifteenth I was 
up; the noise of the deck hands washing the deck was 
more persuading than an alarm clock for early ris- 
ing. At seven A. M. I viewed a cloud bank on the 
distant horizon, thinking it was Cuba; but no, an 
hour must pass. In the meantime I breakfasted 
heartily and was in nowise crowded, for many 
were sick, ''overcome by the heat." It looked like 
"mal de mer," but we were charitable and allowed 
the delusion to remain. 

The gentle roll and pitch of our slow moving 
vessel, as she crossed aslant the ground swells, 
made me think of the early days when we boys 
paddled our canoes out in the middle of the stream, 
when the steamboats passed, to catch the "rollies." 
After breakfast I gazed over the rail and watch- 
ed the flying fish disport as if they were swal- 
lows, and now and then a larger fish rise above its 
element. The flying fish flew full fifty feet, if not 
more, and were a curious sight to me. 

At eight-thirty A. M. through a misty rain 



we saw the shores of Havana (Cuba). No poetic 
pen has evei described them in a rain; plain prose 
was amply sufficient. The glistening sunlight and 
elusive tints that gild the guide-book descriptions 
were missing. 

We passed Morro Castle and the Punta, and 
came to anchor near the wreck of the "Maine" 
Tuesday, the eighth anniversary of the sinking of 
the "Maine." For this reason we found the wreck 
decorated with a United States flag and garlands 
of flowers. Several patriotic societies celebrated the 
day, and a number of functions were held. We 
saw the decorations as we lay in the harbor, but 
missed all other details. 

With the rain, the confusion of tongues, the 
strangeness of everything, the search for quarters, 
we had our hands too full to find out about every- 
thing, and contented ourselves with reading it in 
the newspaper the next day. 

After the Doctor had passed us all as having 
good health, we were taken on shore in a lighter; 
we would call it a steam yacht. A confusion of 
passengers and baggage followed. Having been 
through Custom Houses before, I extricated my 
companions and self from the unknown trials quickly. 
Our baggage in the possession of the express 
companies, we had nothing to do but find our ho- 
tel, the Pasaje (the "Pasach-he" is what it sounds 
like). We reached there. It is one thousand me- 
ters, a kilometer, from the wharf; but as the rush 
was so great we could not secure rooms, and it was 
necessary to look elsewhere, which we did. 

Our trunks and suit cases had been sent to the 
Pasaje Hotel; after an hour's search we found our 
suit cases. The Cubans do not care to work hard 
and the express companies are really not shining 
examples of activity; in fact, it is too hot to work 
hard in Havana. We were told not to expect our 
trunks until late. Havana had just had automo- 






r 




Entrance of the Harbor. 




Wreck of the "Maine. 



bile races; the Knights of Columbus were there on 
an excursion, and the papers in the United States 
had by their articles brought hundreds of tourists 
to the island. On this most auspicious day the 
city was deluged both with people and rain. I was 
told it never rained in Havana in February, but 
when you are traveling, the unexpected always 
happens. 

With our suit cases we were fixed for a time, 
and trusted to the morrow to bring forth the trunks. 
Mind you, it was raining, I had no umbrella, did 
not know the town, and was not as yet a Spanish 
student. 

As the weary bird in its flight seeks rest, we 
had to light somewhere. 'Twas the Quinta Ave- 
nida, translated the Fifth Avenue Hotel, a Cuban 
family hotel, where much Spanish and little Eng- 
lish was spoken. 

The rooms are twenty feet high, twelve feet 
wide and thirty feet long, and the doors and win- 
dows extend from the floor almost to the ceiling, 
and are locked with strings or little hooks. The 
first floor has store and warerooms; the second 
floor, rooms, kitchen, etc.; the third, rooms only. 
The beds are thus: Springs like cot springs, half 
a quilt, a blanket, a sheet; then you get in, and 
then a sheet and a bed-spread. The dampness in 
Havana does not make a mattress desirable. 

The gas is turned off at eleven P. M. and 
candles are used. You can pay extra and have one 
electric light. The floor is of marble squares of 
black and white, and is scrubbed every day. 
There is no hot water for washing; the rooms 
do not have private baths, and only two bath rooms 
on a floor for the hotel. 

The people are polite and clean in my hotel; 
but, horrors! we have fleas, (that is, I seemed to 
have them all) , and I was bitten all over and thought 
it was the hives; but tush! one gets used to it. They 

10 



do not bite any now; my blood was too thick. Ants 
are plenty on the table, but you must not mind 
them. You will find fleas and ants at times in most 
of the public places. 

Well, we ate a Cuban breakfast at eleven-fifty- 
nine A. M., rode on the street cars in the P. M., 
ate dinner at seven P. M., walked on Obispo and 



f 



J 





Second floor of the Quinta Avenida, showing one side of the covered 

porch which extended around the four inner sides of the court. 

Three sides were used as dining-rooms. 



11 



O'Reilly streets in the evening, retired at ten P. M. 
and thus ended the first day in Havana, and our 
rest was that of the shipwrecked mariner after a safe 
harbor has welcomed him. 




^F'' 




A Merchant Cart, taken near the wharf where we landed when we 
arrived at Havana. 



12 



LETTER 11. 



Sight- Seeing: — The Plaza de Armas — Senate 
Chamber, President's Palace, Cathedral, Etc. 

Havana, Cuba. 

On the morning of the 16th our trunks had not 
arrived, so we had to "get busy." I had on a heavy 
winter suit and heavy winter underwear; that trunk 
of mine had clothes in it I wanted. The sixteenth 
was a mid summer day and no mistake. I found 
the express ofiice and through the kindness of an 
American, the man in charge, some animation was 
injected into the driver who had brought the trunks 
up from the steamer; life enough to make him drive 
his wagon around to several places, while I follow- 
ed up the clew on foot. I found the trunks stored 
in the trunk room of the Pasaje Hotel, held for 
charges, but as I had a receipt with me, they gave 
them up. The Express Company refused to accept 
any payment for hauling them to my hotel, the 
Quinta Avenida, because it had been their mistake. 

Duiing my hunt the driver of the wagon did 
nothing to help, but would calmly loll against any 
convenient support and eat oranges. I was hot 
clear through, but could not say anything that Mr. 
Driver understood. However, it was not long be- 
fore I had changed my clothing to habiliments more 
suitable to the climate, and set out to see the won- 
ders of this unique city. 

My first attempt at sight-seeing on the 16th 
was to try a street car ride. Havana at present is 
not on the harbor alone, but extends for several 
miles along the sea-coast or gulf-coast of the Gulf 

13 



of Mexico from the harbor entrance westward, and 
makes a beautiful detour like an inverted bow. The 
harbor for a distance of twelve hundred meters is 
narrow, and then spreads out into a large inland 
bay. Havana is surrounded on the North, East and 
Southeast by water. You can take a car in the cen- 
ter of the city and ride along about ninety per cent 
of the water front. The street cars are large and 
comfortable. It costs seven cents in Spanish or 
five cents in United States money for a ride. In 
many places the view of the water front is cut off 
by warehouses and buildings, but the street car ride 
gives one a good idea of the city. I have taken 
many street car rides since my first and have tried 
every line in the city; all the cars are electric and go 
fast. I have made many excursions, and will rapid- 
ly pass over the places visited without reference to 
dates. 

Strolls up and down Obispo and O'Reilly streets 
were frequent. They are the principal shopping 
streets of the town, and are in the old part ot 
Havana. These streets run parallel and start at Mont- 
serrate Square, at which point the old wall of Hava- 
na had one of its gates; they extend Eastward for 
about a half mile. Within one block of the water 
front and near their Eastern end, O'Reilly forms the 
North side of the 'Tlaza de Armas" and Obispo 
the South side. 

The Plaza de Armas is an open square and was 
reserved when Havana was founded in 1519. It 
was a place where the soldiers could drill, and the 
surrounding space was for the erection of the mili- 
tary and civil buildings. To this spot the tourist 
should first come, for here is the best starting point 
to commence his observations. 

On the East of the Square stands a small cha- 
pel called the Templete, and by it is a ceibia tree. 
The tree is large, but legend has it that it has 

14 




Obispo Street. 




A view of O'Reilly Street on which is located the store of my class-mate , J. 

I^ychenheim. Everyone in Havana knows where No. 6 O'Reilly 

Street is; there is where you get kodak films and Mr. 

Hibbard shows you how to take pictures. 



15 



sprung from the first or parent ceibia that cast its 
protecting shade over the founders of the city when 
they held the first mass. 

On the North side stands the Senate Chambers 
and the Fuerza; on the West the President's palace. 
The Fuerza is an ancient Spanish fortress begun in 
1538, and has an interesting history as a fort and as 
a residence of governors. In 1900 the Americans 
tore down the walls surrounding the Fuerza, filled 






Plaza de Armas— President's Palace in the Background. 

up its moats, repaired and restored the old fort, and 
it is now prized as a memorial of ancient Havana 
and is used as a museum. 

The Senate building is large and contains many 
rooms and is arranged very much as are similar 
buildings in the capital cities of the United States. 
It must be borne in mind that the population of the 
Cuban Republic is less than two millions. 

The President's palace, formerly the home of 



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Patio of President's Palace. 




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After you enter the President's Palace, this is a view of one side of the 
interior Court or Patio. Beautiful flowers are in the center. 

17 



the G-overnor General, is a large two story struct- 
ure, built around an inner court or patio. It is a 
well preserved building and much of the furnishings 
and finish are elegant. How much of the building 
may have been rebuilt is difficult to say ; but accord- 
ing to information given us here, an old church 
used to stand on this spot, and was torn down in 




r^W 



The Cathedral. 



1777 to make room for the Governor General, the 
now President's Palace. 

The Templete is said to have contained the re- 
mains of Columbus. This spot was marked in 1747 
by a stone obelisk. We were not able to visit the 
interior of the Templete, but it contains several 
paintings and some relics of Columbus. 

A walk of two blocks East and two blocks 
North brought us to "The Cathedral" (La Cate- 




The Templete. 




1 HI. tOR 1 kt^S Ot LA a LKZA 



A reproduction of an old picture of I,a Fuerza. As you stand facing the 

Templete, this fort is towards your left. One of the points 

of intei'est around the Plaza de Armas. 



19 



dral de la Virgen Maria de la Conception) . This 
is a dark and dingy building, with a dome and two 
towers looking as ancient as the Pyramids, but 
only dating back to 1704; it was built by the Jesuits. 
Though uninviting, the exterior, the mosaics, the 
paintings on the walls and dome, the altar and gen- 
eral finish of the interior, hold the attention. The 
remains of Columbus were said to have been inter- 
red in this cathedral for over a century, and to the 
public the cathedral is frequently referred to as 
Columbus Cathedral. These remains, to which 
I have twice referred, were taken to Seville, Spain, 
in 1898 or 1899, and are now in the Cathedral of 
Seville. 




view along Central Park, Havanj 



20 



LETTER IIL 



The Ponta— The Prado— The Malecon— Hotels 
and Theatres. 

The wharves of the cit)^ lie on the harbor side, 
on what you might call the Eastern and Southeast- 
ern edge of the city, and are mainly along the shore 
of the ancient walled city of Havana. 

The Church of San Francisco, in 1762 or 1763, 
when the English occupied Havana, was used for 
the troops, and after the evacuation was considered 
desecrated and not suitable for its original purpose. 
It is now a part of the Custom House. This is locat- 
ed about four blocks South of the Plaza de Armas. 

I took a few passing glimpses of the fagade of 
the "San Francisco de Paula," about three-quar- 
ters of a mile South of the Cathedral. There were 
other churches that we visited on excursions with 
guides, but by the time you have looked at the high 
points in any one line, the rest sort of passes by 
you like a moving picture; and I must get back to 
some of the points outside of the ancient walled-in 
city. There is a section of the wall left; it is just 
about equal to a good-sized brick pile. You look 
at it and say, "Oh, yes, perhaps sometime I will 
be sorry that I did not pick up a rock or brick 
and bring it home." 

At the Northern extremity of Havana is the 
Punta Castle, a square, low-lying fort, with things 
cut in its sides, or arrow-like projections on its cor- 
ners. This little bunch of masonry is just across 
the harbor entrance from Morro, and is called 

21 



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One of the Wharf Scenes, 




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All that is left of the old City Wall. 
22 



Punta because Punta means "point." It had its 
share in making history and now is an ornament. 

If you should look on the map you would find the 
word "Malecon" right alongside of the Punta, and 
I am a little mixed about it; but the Spanish mean- 
ing of Malecon, as near as I can find out, is "Sea 
Wall." From the Punta and Malecon, West in a 
horse-shoe bend, is a beautiful drive along the Gulf 
coast for about half a mile, and this leaves the coast 
and extends out toward the Vedado. 

Extending South from the Punta is the Prado; 
it is very wide and for eight blocks straight. At 
the point where it strikes Central Park it deflects 
slightly, passing along Central Park, past the high- 
priced well known hotels, ending at Colon Park. 
This is the street on which to do your driving and 
walking, when you have on your good clothes; or 
if you want to see the styles, you get a chair and sit 
out on the side-walk and gaze as the people 
pass by. 

On this street, near the center of the city, are 
the Telegrafo Hotel, Inglaterra Hotel, Pasaje Ho- 
tel, the Young Men's Christian Association, "Mr. 
Foster's" office, the American Club, the Spanish 
Club, the Pairet Theatre, the National Theatre, the 
Tacon Theatre, and near to this center are other 
hotels, theatres, express companies and railroad 
stations. Here is where you see the people, except 
on music nights, then many gather on the Malecon. 
I will try to mention a few other places visited in 
my next letter. 

There is a beautiful white building near the 
Malecon on the Prado. It is known as the Mir Mar 
and is operated as a high grade hotel, but I was 
informed that it was originally built by prominent 
New York gamblers for a "swell lay-out," but 
the authorities would not permit it. 



23 




The Prado. This is a view looking North. The buildings on the 
left'are shown in the cut below. 




f^\,., 



Central Park. A view looking West towards the National or Tacon 

Theatres, Inglaterra Hotel, American Club and Telegrafo 

Hotel. The Prado passes in front of these buildings 

and separates the Park from the buildings. 

24 



LETTER IV. 

Still Exploring; — The Botanical Gardens — ^The 

University — Slaugfhter of the Innocents 

— Firemen's Monument. 

I have visited the Vedado; have gone there in 
the street car and by carriage. It is a beautiful sub- 
urb overlooking the Gulf. Many of the houses are 
large and beautiful, and the gardens difficult of 
description; flowers in profusion and of varieties un- 
known to me. These gardens look like Northern 
"hot-houses" out of doors. 

I visited the Botanical Gardens, but was be- 
wildered; the avenues of Royal Palms were magnifi- 
cent, and I could comprehend them; but when I tell 
you that there are over three thousand different 
native plants inside the massive iron fence, you can 
see one hardly knows where to begin. The Havana 
University is here, and the gardens belong to it. 
The President of Cuba has a summer home adjoin- 
ing the gardens. 

I visited the Trocha, a fine hotel some distance 
out of town. It made a good terminus or turning 
point for an evening drive. Another point that one 
goes to out in the Western end of the city is the 
Colon Cemetery. About four o'clock you see many 
funerals coming in. The cemetery has many mon- 
uments, the two most noted being the Students' 
Monument and the Firemen's. The Students' Mon- 
ument was erected in honor of the students of the 
Havana University who were deliberately murder- 
ed by the Spanish Volunteers. The story simply 

25 



makes one's blood boil. A Spanish Colonel of Vol- 
unteers published some derogatory remarks about 
Cuban women; he was challenged to a duel by a 
Cuban and was killed. He was buried in the 
Espada Cemetery in Havana. A crowd of medical 
students visiting the cemetery one day were loiter- 
ing near his tomb, when one of them said some- 
thing reflecting on the dead Colonel. It was repeat- 
ed, enlarged upon and forty-three of these young- 




students' Monument in Colon Cemetery; a memorial 

tablet commemorating the same sad event 

is down near the Punta. 



sters were arrested. They were accused of defacing 
the tomb, tried and acquitted; tried again with a 
packed court-martial, eight were sentenced to death, 
the oldest only sixteen years; the rest sentenced to 
hard labor. 

The father ofone of the boys, who was immensely 
wealthy, offered all for his boy's life. The vindic- 
tiveness of the Spanish Volunteers was not to be 
thwarted, and on the 27th of November, 1871, the 




A Cuban Home. There are some poorer than this but many much hand- 
■ somer, in fact some are almost palaces. This represents a high 
grade cottage. 



The flowers around it are most beautiful. 



eight boys were shot at a spot out near the Punta. 
A memorial tablet was placed on the spot the 27th 
of November, 1899. The son of the Colonel who 
started all the trouble came to Cuba, examined his 
father's tomb, and made an affidavit that it had 
never been disturbed. The Spanish Cortes also pro- 
nounced the boys guiltless; so you can see, with 
such evidence after the murder, that the Cuban 

27 



whose home is Cuba and not Spain, can have no 
love for the Spanish Volunteer. 

The Firemen's Monument is in memory of the 
death of thirty vohinteer firemen, killed by an ex- 
plosion of powder May 17, 1890. A full sized por- 
trait in marble of each fireman is carved around the 
base of the monument. 

The Cubans have many fine monuments and 
statues, also a few old forts. I am going to skip 
all I have not mentioned so far, except Morro and 
Cabanas, and will write a short letter about them. 




The Fireman Monument in Colon Cemetery, one of 
the sights shown to visitors, 



LETTER V. 



Off to Matanzas — Scenes on the Way — Our 
Hoosier Captain — Caves of Bellmar. 

On the evening of February 20 I resolved to be 
awake the following morning at six in order 
to take the train for Matanzas. Good resolves are 
not always kept, but this occasion demanded that 
no slip be allowed, so carefully at two A. M. 
I arose and consulted my watch, and again at 
three and regularly thereafter about every hour. 
And sufficient it is to say at five-fifty A. M. 
I stood before my glass, face lathered, razor 
in hand, making the beginning for the day. 
I might add that my "habitation" is on a street 
that begins business at two A. M. Noises come 
in bunches, floating through the open portals of 
my palace room— noises distinct and varied, yet 
in the aggregate of such respectful proportions 
as to demand the attention of the most languid. 
"Music," 'tis said, "has charms to w^oo the fickle 
god of sleep," so on other less important occasions 
I endeavor to imagine that the gentle and less 
gentle vibrations that agitate the murky atmos- 
phere of the Southern early dawn are but the 
echoes of a comic opera. 

At six-thirty A. M. I sat down to the ample 
repast of one orange, one glass of boiled milk, 
colored with the essence of coffee, and three dimin- 
utive slices of bread. We of the island of Cuba 
call this breakfast. You of colder and harsher 

29 



climes would pity the poor innocent wanderer who 
is compelled to witness such a travesty, and to also 
play the part But anon, 'tis thus when one sallies 
forth into foreign parts to gather the experience of 
the world and break into the manners and customs 
of other people. Don't pity any of us, for think of 
the fun we will have in telling of it after the exper- 
ience is of the past, and we say "when we were in 
Cuba." 

At seven A. M. I boarded a street car which 
was marked "San Francisco, Muelle de Luz," 
and was wafted swiftly through the narrow streets 
to the Luz wharf, where I was to take the ferry at 
seven-thirty A. M. for an eight o'clock train for 
Matanzas. I had paid $6.20 for a round trip ticket, 
and at the wharf I was to meet a guide, to whom 
I was to pay $4.80 and join an excursion party; the 
$4.80 was to pay for all expenses of the day, lun- 
cheon, or as they call it here "second breakfast," 
carriage or volante ride, admission to cave, etc. 
By the way, the "etc." of an excursion are intang- 
ible, but the promoter of an excursion always insists 
that they be paid for; and it is well, because no one 
in search of the novel and curious would like to see 
their guardian scout left in the lurch on finances; 
yet if you should fail to get the "etc." of the excur- 
sion, it is not good form to ask that any change be 
returned. The charge is pro bono publico, which 
means that it being more blessed to give than re- 
ceive, it is for the public good that you, as one of 
the public in this expense, should consider the 
blessing you obtain by giving. 

Our guide of the day — Oh, how pleasantly do 
I think of him! — from Illinois he hailed. We called 
him Captain, the Hoosier Captain. Good humor 
enveloped him, as also did much perspiration. The 
day was hot and humid, and the dear Cap busy and 
moist, jokey and cheerful. He spoke Spanish as 



well as Knglish, and handled his Spanish as grace- 
fully as a man eating peas with a knife; but he was 
on deck and "Johnny on the spot," and worth dou- 
ble the price. If not the best posted guide, which 
one may question, he was the best for the money 
this side of anywhere. His English was respectable, 
but at times unique and picturesque. He was like 
an old hen with a brood of chicks — a most motherly 
guide. Everything with him was "right" — "all 
right," "all right," and "right this way" and 
"right that way." 




Cuban Village on the way to Matanzas. 

As I seated myself on the upper deck of the 
ferry-boat, I glanced at a lady some fifteen feet 
from me, whose face was strangely familiar, and 
while trying to place her I was interrupted by a fa- 
miliar voice, "Hello, Tom." It was our old friend 
Harry Knox of Chicago. He was doing Havana, 
etc., with his mother, Mrs. Floyd T. Logan, and 
Floyd, Jr., also of Chicago. With eager joy I 

31 



joined them, and the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and the 
morning of the 24th was made most pleasant in 
their company. I was their guest at many a good 
meal. (My hotel has a good reputation for meals, 
but then it is strictly Cuban in its menu.) 

Well, to come back. The ferry is leaving the 
Havana side of the harbor, and steaming swiftly to 
where we take the cars. We pass the wreck of the 
"Maine," and fingers point and tongues wag as we 
swiftly come and go by that relic of the grim past. 




A Country Family in Cuba. View on the way to Matanzas. 

Ashore, "right" at the railway station, we embark 
for our sixty mile ride through picturesque Cuba to 
Matanzas. the home, the seat, the nurse of revo- 
lution and patriotism. The spirit of Matanzas freed 
Cuba from her bondage of mediaeval Spain. Like a 
panorama the country passed by as we sped toward 
our destination — rolling land, well tilled fields, ave- 
nues and clumps of royal palms, old villas and Cu- 

32 



ban huts, tropical fruits and vegetation in abun- 
dance, sugar-cane by the mile — corn, our own Indian 
corn, being also a part of the ever-changing land- 
scape — blue sky, fleecy clouds, rainbow tints in the 
sky and on the land, rich dark green foliage, deep 
red earth, Oh, so red and red, all mixed in the most 
artistic harmony. The little naked babies, the sim- 
ply white clad men and colored clad women, the 
heavily laden two and four-wheel ox teams, the 
mules, the men on horse back, the freight cars full 




of sugar-cane, all increased the interest in the scene. 
The distance to many of these objects from our 
point of view, no doubt, added to the enchantment. 
Our nostrils aided not our sight, and our sight was 
not keen enough to depict aught but beauty. The 
ride was one of beauty, and the entire scene was 
described by the simple expression repeated and 
repeated, "Oh, isn't it beautiful!" 

We arrived in Matanzas in about two hours. 



38 



Our train had attached to it a special car. It was 
placed at the disposal of the President of the Chi- 
cago & Alton Ry. and party. Of course, Harry 
Knox and I had to take possession of it; the best is 
none too good for the hustling wanderer, but we 
gave it up. The conversation between the student 
of English, the conductor or trainman, and the two 
students of Spanish, H. K. and T. G., was volu- 
minous and polite; but there is no one so stupid as 





In Front of the Hotel where we Breakfasted. 

he who does not desire to be informed, and alas! we 
were too able to comprehend, and really we did fare 
as well in the end. 

"Well, well, here we are all right." This was 
our Hoosier Captain. "Will you walk or ride to the 
hotel?" Our party decided to walk, the better to see 
the old town. Oh, whew! It was a hot day and we 
had in the excursion twenty-two people, average 
weight about one hundred and ninety pounds or 



34 



more. To bring up the average were three men, 
well described as our fat friend, our fatter friend, 
and the fattest friend — he who did not walk. 

We arrived at the hotel pretty near en masse, 
and the genial guide, Hoosier Captain, said, 
"Walk right into the setting-room." Our fat friend 
said, "I do not know why anyone should walk 
into the setting- room; it is hot enough to hatch 
eggs outside." After the party had an opportu- 
nity to wash, breakfast was served. You would 
call it luncheon. We all had more or less of an 
appetite except Floyd and waded through our Cu- 
ban meal. Now, a Cuban meal is a good thing, but 
some people have had their digestive apparatus and 
palate trained so differently that it is difficiilt to ap- 
preciate the beauties of the unknown. I always 
want a pilot to steer my course on the meal propo- 
sition. 

After dinner — I forget, after breakfast — our 
party went out and tried a volante. We boys sat in 
the seat and sat on the horse — the ladies tried the 
seat. Our permanent rig for the drive was a Mont- 
gomery Ward top surrey. Floyd I^ogan was our 
driver at first, and then Harry Knox took the rib- 
bons. We drove en trail, eight vehicles, through 
the narrow streets of this quaint town; houses 
nearly all one story, windows and doors reach- 
ing from roof to floor; windows barred like a 
prison, doors with smaller doors in them, and 
nearly all ajar, with some one or more per- 
sons gazing out at the passing show. Children of 
all ages playing on side walks and street; many clad 
in but one garment, and sometimes not all of that; 
others in neat linen suits, bare-headed and bare- 
footed, and here and there one togged out in the 
finest blue sash, blue socks, white or colored dress, 
the picture of a fond mother's darling dressed for 
Sunday school. The less these children had on 
and the dirtier they were, the happier they seemed; 

35 



but this is merely a supposition, not based on any 
corroborative interviews with the youthful natives. 

"Here we are 'right' at the Central Park. 
There is the Government house, there is the Span- 
ish club, etc. Here is where they executed the 
prisoners (for details refer to the Guide Book), and 
now we will see the handsome villa which Gener- 
al Wilson occupied. They now keep fighting chick- 
ens there" — Quotation from the Hoosier Captain. 
Driving on through the city, across a deep ravine, 
over a high bridge, we obtained a view of the har- 
bor, a bay five miles long and one and a half miles 
wide. We still kept driving through country roads 
up steep hills towards our villa. Going was good for 
a while, when all of a sudden the first mate of our 
land-going vessel yelled "Rocks ahead!" Messrs. 
Fat, Fatter and Fattest had run aground. The horse, 
being a dumb brute, had to give expression to his 
feelings in sign language, which he did by refusing 
to go on. His remarks were so eloquent that Fat 
and- Fatter disembarked, but Fattest stuck to his 
craft, and by much whipping the horse took up his 
lightened task. 

The house we visited was, at one time, a hand- 
some residence, with beautiful tropical gardens, but 
is occupied now only by care-takers, and where 
once was naught but beauty and grandeur, is 
sordidness and decay. Large and spacious rooms 
full twenty feet high, the interior trimmed with 
marble and tile, surrounded an immense "patio" 
or court. In front was a magnificent porch, and 
surrounding the court along the four inner walls 
was a covered court, thus permitting the passage 
from any room to another without going in the rain 
during wet weather. The house was two rooms 
deep in the front and sides. Old-fashioned kitchens 
in the rear on one side, designed for charcoal fires, 
were in style just like those seen in the ruins of 
Pompeii. An entrance between the kitchen and 

86 



immense lavatory was large enough to permit the 
passage of vehicles, presumably volantes, as in the 
earlier days these were the fashionable carriages. 
Every evidence was there of former luxury and 
comfort, and present privation and ruin. In the 
gardens roses were in bloom; beautiful colored fol- 
iage of unknown plants and trees ; coffee plants 
were much in evidence, and many plants that in the 
North we see growing only in hot-houses. In the 
rear to the left was a cock-pit and a large number 




i^ f* ^._.v,3!f 



Cviban Milk Vender 

of game roosters. We were shown this as one of the 
sights of Matanzas. Our Hoosier Captain said, 
"Walk 'right' up and step in the ring," and the fat- 
test man offered to fight the Captain if he did not 
supply us with a cock fight. Our fat man referred 
to this villa as the "Chicken Fight House." 

We went from here to see a view of the You- 
mari valley. The hill was 470 feet high, and we 
could see for miles a most fertile plain, tilled and 

37 



cultivated, and again, ''Oh, isn't it beautiful!" We 
visited the church of Montserrate, situated on this 
hill, a copy of the church of Montserrate in Spain, 
built in 880, which is said to contain a wooden 
image of the Virgin and Child. 

We retraced our drive and reached the shore, 
giving us another and different view of the bay, 
and after a level drive of a mile, passing the bathing 
beach, we turned abruptly to the right, ascending 
the roughest of roads and steepest of hills. This 




fiW*^- 



Typical Cuban Country Cart. 

road is called Dog Tooth road on account of the 
jagged coral rocks. We were bound for the Caves 
of Bellmar — (and it was still hot). The hill was so 
rough and steep that it was necessary for three of 
our party to walk. When we reached the entrance of 
the cave we found a frame building, and a modern 
electric light plant, and a primitive lemonade and 
soft drink stand. (A primitive stand is good enough 
in an emergency.) A.s we drove up, old Cap was 
standing prominently in the foreground, counting 

38 



his money and his brood. It was one of the amus- 
ing sights to see the Cap count; he counted his 
crowd at least a dozen times at different places, and 
he counted his tickets and his money. This per- 
formance he seemed to go through everywhere we 
stopped. 

The caves are high-vaulted chambers, con- 
nected by low and narrow passages; some passages 
enlarged since the caves were discovered, 1861. 
Formerly the only way to see the caves was by 
lighted torches, and they have so smoked the for- 
mations that much of the beauty is spoiled. It is 
now lighted by electricity, but the guides still carry 
torches for safety. The formations are of limestone, 
much the same as in the Mammoth Caves, and 
many odd and fantastic shapes are suggested to the 
imaginative mind. There is no ventilation, and 
though it was hot above, the close, humid atmos- 
phere of the caves was oppressive, and the per- 
spiration simply rolled off us slim ones; off the fat 
ones it was worse. Our fat friend thought he was 
stuck in a narrow passage and yelled, "Tm stuck, 
can neither go forward or back." It was rather 
startling at first, but he was a joker. Mrs. Knox 
felt the heat very much in the cave. While we were 
in the caves it rained, and the air felt cool and re- 
freshing when we came to the surface. 

As soon as we could we started back. Our 
carriage had become more or less wet, and I just 
sat on the seat for an instant; after that I braced 
myself and sort of floated two inches above the 
seat. Harry drove. Our chauffeur, a native boy 
who said he was eight years old, rode on the steps 
of the carriage, and was tickled so that he could 
hardly contain himself because Harry Knox whis- 
tled at the horse through his teeth. We were anx- 
ious to reach the station, drove fast, and raced a 
volante containing three Graces. In the morning 
they had been the crispest, cleanest, daintiest 

39 



things on the island, clean on the start — but no 
remarks on the finish. Heat, dust, rain, mud, 
deep red mud, railway travel, volante, walking, 
cave; this is enough to depict the finish, yet they 
were happy. 

Cap counted us again, had us get our tickets 
signed, put us on the train. Floyd has not a strong 
appetite, and balks at many things to eat, except 
candy. He has not eaten much all day, and when 
the train stopped he bought two large pieces of 
cake. It was amusing to see Harry take a bite — 
of course, just to see if it was all right for Floyd to 
eat, then we all had to try it. Floyd thought he 
would like to buy a sandwich, and took what he 
thought to be one, only the man insisted on get- 
ting forty cents for it, and Floyd discovered he was 
buying a piece of white cheese. 

We reached the ferry without any incident, 
except that we were counted again. We secured 
carriages after much difficulty, as the trolley line 
was out of service for over an hour, and arrived at 
the Inglaterra Hotel tired but satisfied. I went to 
my rooms, changed my attire, bathed, and then 
dined with Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Logan, Harry Knox 
and Floyd Logan, and spent an enjoyable and pleas- 
ant evening. 



40 



LETTER VI, 



The Jai-Iai Game — A Fascinating: Game of 
Chance* 

The other evening I went to seethe **Hi-li" 
game (spelled Jai-lai). The building is enormous; 
holds thousands of people. I was with a party of 
five and we were held up for two dollars a seat in 
a box. We had a good view of the courts. The 
game is hand-ball with curved scoops for racquets. 
The court is 175 ft. long, 36 ft. wide, and I believe 
the side and end walls are about 70 ft. high. 

They start out first, two men playing against 
each other. They have about eight different men, 
and as soon as one player misses, another takes his 
place until one player can win six times. This is 
tame, and it looks as if they were just warming up, 
waiting for the "ready money" to come in. 

About nine-thirty the crowd thickens; a new 
game starts. Four players get on the courts, two 
with white shirts and two with blue shirts. They 
are to play a game of thirty points to win. These 
men get $5,000 a year for playing this game, and 
only work three months, but have to quit when they 
are thirty years old. They give out. 

Now, this is where I let you into the secret of 
the game. The people bet on either the white or 
the blue; but wait, it is great. The owners of the 
place, a stock company, get ten per cent on all the 
wagers. Why, that is like having money left to you. 

Well, the floormen in red caps halloo out some- 
thing that sounds like, "This train forSquedunk," 

41 



etc.; but it is the odds on the game, "ten to eight," 
the blues the favorites. The game progresses; the 
blue creeps ahead slowly; the odds change until it 
is ten to two; the score twenty-three for the blues 
and the whites only twelve. I remark to my compa- 
nions that anyone is foolish to wager their money 
on the whites. I guess I must-have made a num- 
ber of sage remarks on the game previous to this, 



s^^l^^^^iT:^ 





/•^ 



Post Card View of Jai-lai Game, taken from a position near my Box. 



for a Frenchman who was in the box, and to whom 
I had given an extra chair for his companion, leaned 
over and said in fail English, "Do not bet on the 
favorites; they seldom win." I did not even bet a 
nickel; I just waited. The whites made two points, 
the blues one; the whites three points, the blues 
one, and at last it stood 29 to 29, and the whites 
won and the house won, and most of the crowd lost. 
My, what a noise! But the crowd will come back 
again. 

42 



This is the only gambling-place running, and 
as soon as its charter expires it goes out of exist- 
ence, and all of its property reverts to the gov- 
ernment. I do not know whether I was any more 
excited than the rest of the crowd, but I was tired, 
and on the dot of eleven was at my hotel, at eleven- 
seven asleep, and slept about as sound as Rip Van 
Winkle. 



--^T1 



street Cleaner. 



43 



LETTER VIL 



A Fishing: Expedition — Salutes the ^'Sumner^' — A 
Lively Time with the Shark but no Luck. 

One afternoon an American told me that for 
$1.50 I could join a party that night for a shark 
fishing expedition. At six-thirty P. M. I was at 
the wharf; found the launch and party. Within two 
hundred yards the United States transport 'Sum- 
ner" lay at anchor, her clean cut lines and dead 
white sides making a beautiful picture for an Amer- 
ican to feast his eyes on. While standing theie the 
"Sumner" lifted anchor and slowly drifted down 
the harbor. In a moment of impulse I reached the 
whistle-cord and saluted the ship of my country, 
and most graciously the big ship returned my salute 
in the deep bass of its powerful whistle. We were 
near enough so that we could be plainly seen, and 
all the passengers (guests of the government) 
waved their salutes. We had done the proper thing 
and from our start the harbor followed suit. We 
waited and watched until the hull of the "Sumner" 
became a speck on the horizon, and then started 
after our prey, the hyenas of the sea. 

Darkness was settling on Havana and the lights 
were twinkling in increasing numbers, looking 
like gems glistening on a ground of navy blue. 
The street car, brilliantly lighted, moved along the 
harbor's edge like a thing of life, and a spot adja- 
cent to the Punta looked like a sun-burst. Over- 
head the sky twinkled with stars, and the smooth 
surface of the harbor reflected all the beauty of the 



night and made what was entrancing just doubly 
so. Old Morro, with its beacon light, marked the 
spot for us to cast our line. 

We made straight across the harbor to the north- 
ern end of Cabanas, towing behind two natives in 
a boat. At Cabanas a small boat awaited us with 
bait — dead and rotten fish from one to two feet in 
length. We took the small boat in tow and one 
additional native, going to a spot near Morro, and 




Hotel Boats lyiiiR at moorings. Our shark fishing expedition started 
from this point. 



right in the channel we cast our anchor. Our lines 
were like clothes-lines, our hooks twelve inches 
long, and the hook three or four inches across, with 
dangerous looking barbs. The hooks were fast- 
ened to chains three feet long, and the chains then 
attached to the lines. The man in the small boat 
baited the hooks, threw out about fifteen dead fish, 
then took the ends of the lines and rowed about one 
hundred feet away from the launch and dropped the 

45 



hooks right in the channel. The habit of the shark 
is to follow ships up the channel, picking up the 
offal. 

It is unnecessar}^ to follow up each catch and 
failure. We did not land a single shark the night 
I was with them, much to my pleasure. We hooked 
many, but they all got away. We lost three hooks; 
in one case the shark had bent the barb flat, and 
made marks in the metal as if it had been hit with 
a hammer. In another case the shark swallowed 
the hook and three feet of chain, and the rope was 
cut as clean as with a knife. We raised a number 
above the water. In one instance we had the head a 
foot out of water on one side. The body was under 
the boat, and the flopping of the tail on the other 
side of the boat completely drenched several of the 
party. We tried to harpoon it, but for some reason 
failed, and I think most of the party gave a sigh of 
relief when the line parted and down into the deep 
sea our shark disappeared — the white belly, the 
dark glistening sides, the wicked fin, and the most 
beautiful blue eyes, small and glittering, blue as the 
deep colored sky on a clear day, but as wicked and 
fiendish as you could wish. 

When a shark takes the bait he plays with it 
for a moment and then starts off" like a locomotive. 
If you have not much slack in the line, the first 
tightening of the line may part it. I held the line 
for an instant, but was glad to let it go, as it whiz- 
zed past through my hand; after that I let the three 
hired fishermen do the work. One of our party had 
the flesh torn from the inside of his hands. We 
fished until eleven o'clock. It was the only time 
during my visit to Havana that I saw a native 
Cuban in a hurry. Every time we hooked a shark 
the native fishermen hopped around the deck, their 
heads, their arms, their feet all in motion; to watch 
them was alone worth the trip. 

When I look back at this one incident of travel, 

46 



it is with pleasure — the passing of the "Sumner," 
the beauty of Havana at night from the haven, the 
majesty of Morro and Cabanas, the beauty of all, 
the excitement and novelty, made it a time to be 
remembered. 




47 



LETTER VIIL 



Music at the Prado — Enjoyed by Thousands in 

Gala Attire— Attend the Balls and Learn 

the ^^Danza/' 

During the past two weeks my time has been 
so fully occupied that on Sunday I fell asleep at one 
P. M. and never woke up until four P. M. 

The city of Havana has a beautiful wide street, 
the Prado, double drive-way and park in the center. 
It is more than a kilometer long and less than a 
mile. It leads from the Central Park and main 
hotel location to the Punta. 

The Punta is an old fort erected on a point of 
land opposite Morro Castle, and is on the right hand 
side of the harbor entrance when coming into the 
harbor. At the Punta begins the Malecon (the 
Spanish name for sea wall), which really is used 
for the name of the beautiful shore drive that skirts 
the horse-shoe curve of the Havana seashore outside 
the harbor. I have referred to these in a previous 
letter. 

At the intersection of the Prado and the Malecon 
is a magnificent stone band-stand, surrounded by 
many seats. With this band stand as a center, there 
circles a broad drive-way, the inner curb being not 
less than one hundred feet from the band stand. 
This drive-way is part and parcel of the shore drive 
and the Prado. When anyone says they will meet 
you at the Malecon, this is the spot to which they 
refer. Upon certain evenings, three times a week, 
there is music from eight to ten-thirty. The place 



is one of gala attire. On the seats you see the mid- 
dle classes; it costs five cents per person to sit down. 
The payment of the price is honored with a ticket, 
which permits the taking of any seat, so at the 
intermission you get up and walk around and 
around, looking at the others and showing yourself. 
Circling around the drive-way are handsome equi- 
pages; they, too, driving to see and be seen. 

I spent three evenings listening to the music, 




Colon Park, which is located at the Southern end of the Prado. This 

Park is one block from the Ouinta Avenida at one extremity, 

and two blocks from the Tacon Market. 

dressed in light blue suit and summer underwear, 
enjoying the cooling breeze from the Gulf, and 
wondering how it was with all my friends up North. 
The Cubans seem to be a music-loving people, and 
have good music and much of it this time of the 
year. One evening I attended a comic opera. I 
understood about one word in a thousand; but the 
music was good and I could smile at a few clownish 



actions. The Carnival season began on the twenty - 
fourth of February. Of course, the American ball 
was on Washington's birthday, and the Cubans 
were more or less engaged in playfulness on that 
day. 

I attended two Spanish balls by invitation. 
Bvery courtesy is extended to Americans. These 
balls were masquerades, and were both given by 
commercial societies. The gorgeous hues and mod- 
est tints blended and changed so that the dancing 
floor was one continuous kaleidoscope of fascinating 
colors. The dancing is slow^ that is moderate, a 
luxurious method for one who likes the thrill of 
music, but whose activity is not that of the undevel- 
oped calf and cunning kitten, such as we see at so 
many of our so-called ''swell" functions of the 
North. Your wanderer has learned the "Danza," 
and if it is possible to remember it, will bring it 
home as an addition to his vacation. A Cuban lady 
at the American ball worked hard to teach me. 

The balls are attended by men in business suits; 
the girls in fancy costumes or light dresses, light 
in color and weight, except a deep red, which is 
very much used. Of course, the "upper ten," the 
diplomats and wealthy, wear evening dress at their 
private functions, and there are some club or asso- 
ciation balls that seem to request it. 

At this festal season there are balls for all. The 
National Theatre, the largest theatre in Havana, 
conducts a masquerade ball for three nights, 
admission one dollar. This is attended by negroes 
and whites indiscriminately, and there seems to be 
no distinction in the selection of partners. The 
dancing floor is surrounded by a tier of boxes, and 
it is from them you can watch the dancers. This 
ball runs until four or five A. M. Drinking is allow- 
ed in the cafe in front of the theatre, and a large 
court-yard, which has a dancing floor 100x50 feet 

50 



and a bar; both these drinking places belong to the 
theatre. 

Although the crowd is made up of the most 
heterogeneous mass of the poorest and worst classes, 
perfect order is maintained. I counted no less than 
ten policemen on the dancing floor. They never 
have any trouble, I am informed by an educated 
Cuban, and a ball of this kind is allowed for three 
days once every year. As a class, the Cubans seem 
to be polite at all times, and even in this Bowery 
"Grande Masque," gentle manners prevail. I will 
try to describe the Carnival parade in my next 
letter. 




Meat Wagons coming down the Prado 
near the Pasaje Hotel. 



51 



LETTER IX. 



The American Ball — Alice Roosevelt — President 
Palma and Alice g:o to the Theatre — Inde- 
pendence Day — The Carnival. 

This is Carnival season and there is something 
going on all the time. I am like a child with 
a circus in town, three Christmases and a Sunday- 
school picnic all at once. 

One morning we visited the Cabanas and Mono 
Castle; in the afternoon a cigar factory and a candy 
bakeshop ; strolled up and down Obispo, O' Reilly and 
San Rafael streets. Another day we visited the cata- 
combs, the orphan asylum, the jail and a real candy 
factory, the "Estrella." On the evening of Feb- 
ruary twenty-second took Mrs. Knox and Mrs. 
Logan to the American ball. We saw Alice Roose- 
velt. She had on a yellow dress, Princess style, 
not lemon or orange, but between; cut low, but not 
very; trimmed on the edge with cord en train about 
thirty-six inches, and butterfly bows on her shoul- 
ders; one string of pearls around her neck, and one 
diamond pin in her hair. Her hair is brown, and 
she wears it low over her forehead. Her com- 
plexion was good, as were her features; her figure 
slender. I stood alongside of her for about six 
minutes. She very considerately walked right to 
where I stood and then stopped. She behaved her- 
self, under what anyone would admit was a very 
difficult occasion, with credit to herself and her 
country. For any minor details of costume, con- 
sult Mrs. K. Knox or Mrs. F. T. Logan. 

I might mention that I stood on the balcony of 

52 



the American Club,* to which I have a card, and 
saw President Palma, Alice and the rest go to 
the theatre. That was on another evening. I have 




Jose Marti Monument in Central Park. The leader in the movement 

for the freedom of Cuba. Marti was born in Havana in 1853, 

and killed in battle in 1895. He is credited with leading 

or inspiring the revolution which began Feb. 24, 1895. 

Feb 24 is celebrated in Cuba as a national holiday. 



been indebted to Charlie Thrall of Havana for my 

card to the club, and many other little courtesies. 

February 24th is Independence day in Cuba, 

*The American Club is in the white building facing Central Park. 
See illustration, page 24. 

53 



and they have festivals; first for three days, then 
for the following three Sundays. I have not been 
able to trace the connection between the festivals 
and Independence day, but I will describe the fes- 
tivities. You can observe the balcony of the 
American Club on the left hand in the picture 
of the Prado, page 24. On Saturday, balls, thea- 
tre parties, etc. Mrs. Longworth attended the grand 
opera. All the diplomats and elite in their best 
clothes placed themselves on exhibition, and Alice 




street Corner Merchant, opposite American Club, corner 
Central Park. A thriving business done here on In- 
dependence day. 
54 



gazed from her box on five thousand people and 
five thousand people gazed at Alice. Not less than 
ten thousand people were on the outside, until the 
President's party drove up, to see our representa- 
tives. From the vantage point of the balcony of 
the American Club I watched the panorama. 

Sunday was celebrated by mass in the churches 
in the morning and the afternoon given over to 
gaiety. The Prado and extension about a mile one 
way was a parade ground. The Prado is like our 




Fruit Vender. 

Midway in a slight degree. The center has a broad 
cement walk, with beautiful laurel trees on each 
side, and on either side of the walk is a broad drive- 
way, then sidewalk again and then the buildings. 
Taking the two drive-ways, the length would 
approximate two miles. 

From the buildings to the trees hung festoons 
of many colored serpentine confetti. (Serpentine 
confetti is a narrow paper ribbon one- quarter of 



55 



an inch wide.) At four P. M. the parade started. 
It consisted of two-horse carriages, horses either 
tandem or side by side; none other could go in 
the parade. In these carriages rode people in 
masks or light costumes, much dressing being done 
by the ladies. Probably half of the carriages con- 
tained people in gala dress. These carriages were 
festooned with serpentine confetti. This confetti 
comes in bundles made up of a number of little coils, 
rolled up like you would roll up a tape measure. 



L 




Vegetable Men. 

You take the inside end and hold it in your hand 
and then throw the coil; this sends out a long 
streamer. As the carriages pass along the spectators 
on the sidewalk and those in the parade have a bat- 
tle with each other, throwing confetti until the car- 
riages are covered and the street a mass of confetti 
from curb to curb. The street being wide, it was 
permitted that the automobiles and one-horse car- 
riages drive along with the parade, but not of it. 
These vehicles also did battle with the paraders, 

56 



and much fun and jollity ensued thereby. The 
firemen had a bevy of beautiful girls (I think a bevy 
is about a dozen) in hose wagons. There were a 
few other special wagons, but mostly carriages. 

You think all this is foolish, but the first thing 
you know you are buying confetti and are foolish 
with the rest. I rode in the parade one day and 
then threw confetti the other two days. There were 
four of us busy, one about eight years, one about ten 
years, and then another about my age, and thus it 
is we pass the time away. 



57 



LETTER X* 



Tacon Market — Visited with Young: Lady — Taken 

for Married Couple and Given Fruit 

for ''Billy/' 

Thursday morning I arose at five-thirty and 
at six-thirty met a young lady employed at an in- 
formation and ticket office, and we visited the Tacon 
Market together. I was much interested in this 
market and had been there several times. The va- 
rious tropical fruits are a curiosity to me. The man 
in charge of the ticket office advised me to see it 




Picture of Meat Wagon taken in front of Market. 

early in the morning, and it was thus that your son 
"hiked" out of bed before sunrise; and it was 
worth the trouble. 

You have been at the Twelfth Street Market in 
Philadelphia; well, this was like it, only so differ- 
ent. It was men selling to women, the women 



buying for the homes, boarding-houses and hotels. 
The swarthy marketmen and the stout, soft-spoken 
senoras, the fruit and the unknown tongue, made it 
seem strange. We ate our breakfast (ham and 
eggs and coffee) in the market; then, with what lit- 
tle Spanish I could command, I made inquiries for 
a man who could talk English. We found one, a 
wholesale dealer. He took the young lady and I 
for a married couple, investigating the question of 
household economy in the commissary line. He 
gave us some fruit for our boy, whom we with 
audacious mendacity called Billy. He was delight- 
ed to have made such a good guess and referred to 
the mythical Billy frequently. He insisted on our 
taking as samples two cucumbers, a half dozen 
tomatoes and some unknown vegetables, but I shied 
when he pressed us to take a couple of onions. 

To appease our conscience, we bought some 
alligator pears, a pine-apple, some oranges and 




Tobacco Cart. 
59 



other fruits, thus making him more and more anx- 
ious to hold our trade. After our trading we 
tramped through the place. I do not know when 
they butcher, but the meat is hauled to market in 
very peculiar looking wagons. The seat is like 



^1 



■' '^''t-^' 




Bread Man. 



that in the ice wagons of Chicago and is wide 
enough for three men to sit side by side. The wa- 
gon's sides and ends are made of slats that slant 
downwards, which permits the circulation of air. 



60 



but prevents the direct rays of the sun to penetrate. 
I have seen negroes, black as coal, with no other 
clothing on except a shirt, open at the throat, and 
sleeves rolled up, and with trou.sers rolled up knee 
high, bare-footed and bare-headed, hustling this 
meat. To tell the truth, the more I see of meat 
down here, the more of a vegetarian I become. 
They do keep their vegetables and fruit clean. 
They keep their fish in tanks and chickens on 
the roof in this market. It is very large and 
very good. I have been back several times, and 
always receive a welcome from my man. 



61 



LETTER XL 



Gambling: Once Prevalent now a Thing: of the 
Past— A Lucky Draw of $3,000« 

Outside of the Jai-lai games I have not seen 
any gambling in Havana, but I have been told that 
in the forties, lotteries were a great institution; and 
in the year 1859, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., in 
writing about Havana, said that the city was 
flooded with lottery ticket-venders. Tickets were 
for a grand lottery which was guaranteed by the 
government. The slaves would beg and steal in 
order to buy lottery tickets in the hope of securing 
a prize and thereby be able to purchase their 
freedom. 

I was talking about lotteries with a young 
Frenchman, who acted as my guide on numerous 
occasions and who also spoke the Spanish language. 
He took from his pocket an old lottery ticket of 
1843 and gave it to me. It was a prize-winner, 
having won three thousand pesos or Spanish dol- 
lars, the receipt for the money having been written 
on the back. He said the title was "Royal Lottery 
of the Ever Faithful Island of Cuba." The draw- 
ings were monthly, with a prize list of $120,000, but 
once a year it was $180,000. This lottery, he said, 
yielded the Spanish crown over $2,000,000 a year, 
which, with a total in prizes of $15,000,000 a year, 
shows what an immense sum must have changed 
hands on the drawing of a few numbers. The 
ticket I have is a four pesos or four dollar ticket, 
but it could have been sold in fourths had the pur- 

62 



.V 




X 







5 ,-»™«B^leie para ei sortco trescientos sttenta y.tias, | 





, ,^-, !2035! 

i,.X^ - . . . 

I Cuarfc>de«llete para el soneo irescientof sefena y iM, I 
estaadecelebrarel di»22(leugosiorfe^8& ','( 3 



"373 ^ 

DEMSIEilPri 

|f)nai«j3e bitiete pajaej sorteo trescientos seletrta y.tws,! 
5 qufese Ha da celebror el (Ua 22 deagosw de 1843. 






Reverse side showing receipt for 
13,000 which this ticket won. 



) de bill^rjl-aii soneojlfrescientos setenuyfres,j 
Bhadece(4iiri»reldk22de ajostode 1343.^ , 



bace ot the ticket. 



Reduced reproduction of I^ottery Ticket of Aug. 22, 1843. The 
winner received 3000 Pesos on Sept. 16, 1843, and receipted on back 
of ticket. 



chaser only wanted to venture one dollar. It seem^, 
however, that Senor I^opez was a plunger, for he 
bought the whole ticket. There are many stories, 
he said, of trouble occurring because of the lottery, 
and it had been suppressed in Cuba, but it seems 
that the inhabitants still send money to Spain to 
take their chances on the Spanish lottery, I do not 
know whether this ticket is of any particular value 
as a curiosity, but as it is very old and will not 
stand much handling, I will have a photograph 
made of it when I return home. 



64 



LETTER XIL 



An Enjoyable Evening — Visit to a Sugar Mill — 

How the Sugar is Made — Merely a Kitchen 

Doing Business* 

The other evening, at our hotel, we gathered 
around the corridor, which answers for a hotel par- 
lor, and chatted in Spanish. After a short time one 
of the party sat at the piano and drummed a simple 
air. Soon a hum of music started, and from seven- 
forty-five until ten-fifteen we had one continuous 
musical performance with occasional dances; the 
dancing very moderate. Many Spanish songs were 
sung and we had a duet; two Spanish ladies sang 
it, a soprano and an alto — something exquisite. I 
was informed that the ladies were noted for their 
voices. I have heard much music since I came 
here and have enjoyed it. 

The other day I expended the sum of three 
dollars and joined a party going to a sugar-mill. 
We had a five-seated automobile, four to a seat. 
The guide said it was a forty-mile ride. Later on 
I was told it was a thirty-mile ride. Well, what- 
ever it was, it was dusty. I wore my light blue suit 
and it became gray by the time I returned. The 
dust works through the clothing. I had to change 
everything and take a bath when I returned. 

The country through which we passed was 
much the same as we saw from the train window 
going to Matanzas, but hardly so beautiful. The 
roads were like turn-pikes made from very soft 

65 



limestone, and the wind and moving car kept a 
cloud of dust flying, so possibly our perceptions 
were beclouded. The road was lined with trees along 
each side, and was one continuous avenue of palms, 
laurels, locusts, cocoanuts and other trees. For 
the greater part of the way the fields were separated 
from the road by a living fence of cacti. We passed 
many two-wheel carts piled high with sugar-cane. 




Second floor of the Quinta Avenida. Here is where we 
gathered in the evening to sing and to converse. It 
is one side of the covered porch and would be called 
the hotel parlor. The other three sides were used as 
dining-rooms. Bed-rooms opened off these corridors. 



all being hauled by two, four or six oxen. We 
saw sugar-cane twenty feet high growing in the 
fields we passed; its plumed tops waving in the 
breeze made a graceful sight and filled the hearts of 
the ladies with a desire for plumes, so we stopped 
and got one for each lady. 

The mill we visited has a capacity of fifty 
thousand bags of sugar a year, and is running at 
half its capacity because of a scarcity of cane. The 




Plowing on a Cuban Sugar Plantation. 

sugar-cane is brought in carts to a run-way and 
conveyor, and is hauled up on an endless chain to a 
crusher, the solid part of the cane passing out at 
one end, the juice running out below. The cane 
pulp is burned under the boilers and the juice is 
strained and boiled. It passes through three or four 
different cookings in pots before the brown sugar is 
* 'shot' ' into bags for shipping. At the first cooking 
the juice was in open pots that we could look at, 



67 



and it had a scum six inches deep on top — just 
mud. The final process consists in putting it in a 
centrifugal machine to separate the sugar from the 
molasses. I was glad I saw the mill, for I will 
know more about sugar mills when I read about 
them. However, the day was hot and dusty and 
the mill was a kitchen doing business, and none of 
us could enthuse very much. The sugar industry 
is a large one in Cuba and has made many people 
very wealthy. 

I expect to leave at five o'clock Monday after- 
noon. From now on I will take things easy. Have 
seen nearly all the sights and can read the history 
of Cuba with interest. 



1/ ^ 





•.*^s6<2[ki^>:Sr*iy*»»&Aa5?*s 




Cutting Cane on a Cuban Sugar Plantation, 



68 




A Modern Sugar Mill in Cut 




t'h 



%^ 



i0~rr^^^,4p 



Ox Cart similar to those used to haul sugar-cane. 



LETTER XIIL 



Cabanas and Morro ag:ain Visited — Another Car- 
nival Parade — Preparin§: to Leave. 

I sent several packages of postal cards and 
films to Margaret to-day. I have tried to have some- 
thing moving in the mails at all possible times, but 
no doubt you do not receive anything for several 
days, and then several pieces of mail at one time. 

To-day I went to Cabanas and Morro Castle 
for the second time; only two in the party and a 
very interesting guide. The first time I went there 
was a party of twenty-two audit was unsatisfactory. 
It was by accident that I had the second opportu- 
nity. The old fortifications are very interesting. 
Morro Castle was completed in 1597, a fac-simile of 
a Moorish fortress at Lisbon. I cannot describe it, 
for it would take too long. It is all rock, part cut 
out of a solid promontory of rock and part built of 
masonry. There is lots of history connected with 
it and the guides are making new history every 
day. This history-making business is easy; all you 
need is a good imagination and an easy conscience 
and you are off. Morro is on the point opposite 
Havana and lying back of it; along the shore is 
Cabanas or Cabana. Cabana was completed in 1774 
and cost $14,000,000. I do not know who kept the 
books, but do know that prices in Havana are high 
at the present time. Cabana is used as a barracks 
for the Cuban soldiers. You can get a splendid 
view of the city and harbor from there. Inside the 

70 



Cabana is a labyrinth of turnings and ways; you 
can lose yourself. 

In both Cabana and Morro you see dungeons, 
prisons, decrepit guns and useless cannon balls. 
They are not worth much except as relics and inte- 
resting historical exhibits. Everyone seemed to 
think that I, too, was a curiosity, because I went 
over the same ground twice. The best way to go. 




Morro Castle in a Storm. 



though, is for two or three people to hire a guide 
and make it a small excursion. 

It grew extremely warm to-day and I rested all 
the afternoon. At four P. M. another carnival 
parade started, just like the one about which I 
wrote. Sunday stops at noon here. Church be- 
gins early, five o'clock in the morning. As I sit 
in my room I hear the music of a ball just across 
the street. I know of at least six balls going on 





te 



it>&X/ ., « 



Dead L,ine and Interior of Cabanas Fortress. 




jm 



View of Parapet of Fort Cabanas. 
72 



this evening. I passed them all coming from Mr. 
I<ychenheim's home to my room. 

The caf^s are crowded with masqueraders and 
people in gala attire, and everyone is cheerful and 
happy. These people are like children in many 
ways. I spent the evening with Mr. J. Lychen- 
heim and his wife in their apartments. He was 
a class-mate of mine and has been exceedingly 
courteous to me. I came home at eleven, but 
will not be able to sleep for the noise, gaiety and 
music that keeps floating up from the streets; so 
I thought I would write these few lines to you to- 
night and mail them, as I will be busy making 
my arrangements to leave in the morning. I am 
having difficulty about my state-room. The 
steamer on which I sail has not come in. We are 
supposed to leave at five P. M., but, no doubt, 
it will be morning before we clear, so I will mail 
this now. 

You noticed in a previous letter that I said we 
expect to leave five P. M. Monday, and now we are 
supposed to leave at five P. M. I will write you 
another letter on the steamer and then it will be 
definite. In this warm and luxurious climate many 
things have to wait until after they happen before 
you can fix the time. I am frequently ahead of time 
when J am late. I will mail a postal at the wharf 
before I get on the steamer. 



73 



LETTER XIV. 



State-room Troubles — ^^En Voyage — Parting; Views 
of Havana. 

My steamer was expected to leave Monday at 
five P. M. ; then there was a supposition to that 
effect. Well, it is two P. M. Tuesday and we are 
now outside the harbor, having left at one P. M. 
Tuesday, March 6th. I am on the Yucatan, bound 
for Vera Cruz, with one stop scheduled at 
Progresso. 

On Monday I made no less than five trips to 
the ofl&ce of the Ward Line to get my state-room. 
My trunk and other baggage was at the express 
office but could not be delivered until I had my 
reservation, and at six P. M. my efforts were still 
unsuccessful. My room at the Quinta Avenida had 
been given up, my baggage was in possession of the 
Southern Express Company, and word given that 
no one could go aboard the steamer until Tues- 
day morning at eleven. The manager of the ex- 
press company was a brick; he put me on the track 
of a room, and it is no easy matter to locate one in 
a rush, for Havana is crowded to its limit at this 
time; he also hunted up my dress suit case. 

It was hot Monday night and early Tuesday I 
was astir; at eight o'clock stood waiting in Hne 
with others for my state-room; at nine o'clock, tri- 
umphant, I sought the express company, and left 
instructions for the delivery of my baggage. In- 
cidentally, I might mention I hired a carriage and 

74 



made my rounds in comfort; a few good-byes to 
friends who had been kind to me, and then to the 
wharf. 

The United States will quarantine against 
Havana on March 15th, and all passengers leaving 
Havana are examined. The doctor has his office 
above the landing stage. You go upstairs and wait, 
and when your turn comes you present your ticket, 
and if you are going to any port in the United 
States, he places his finger down your neck, be- 
tween your collar and neck (not down your throat, 
as some people thought he would do), and feels 
your temperature. If you have no signs of fever 
you are immediately passed, but if your tem- 
perature is above normal and skin dry, you stand 
to one side to await further examination. 

When I showed my ticket for Vera Cruz he 
only smiled and said, "It would be different if you 
were coming from there." Vera Cruz has yellow 
fever much of the time. Havana is the cleanest 
city I have been in, as far as one can see. You will 
notice in every part of the city a half dozen or more 
men going around with oil cans; these are sanitary 
gangs. The streets are clean and are kept clean all 
of the time. You will always see "White Wings" 
uniformed street cleaners working. On March 5th 
there was not a single case of yellow fever in 
Havana. 

By eleven o'clock I was on the lighter, and 
by noon my baggage was in my state-room, and I 
was ready to take my leave of the city that had 
treated me kindly, had added to my knowledge of 
the ways of mankind, and given to me memories 
that will be pleasant reminiscences as life's da3'S 
fade one by one into the everlasting past. 

I stood by the rail gazing upon thebus}^ scene; 
the time slipped by and soon we started on our 
journey. The wreck of the "Maine," the vessels of 
various nationalities, the guadanos or harbor 

75 



boats, the wharves, the Presidio, the Piinta, 
Cabanas and Morro, all seemed to glide past us. 
I viewed the scenes with my physical sight, and 
from the inner vision of the mind I pictured them 
as they had been. The old flag floating over 
Cabanas seemed to wave me a parting salute, old 
Morro gave me a friendly nod, and the Punta 
seemed to be reaching out to hold me back. The 
world is full of sentiment; we could not live without 
it, and I could not but feel a tinge of sadness as 






view of Havana. 

gradually we made our way into the welcoming 
waters of the Gulf, seeing the places I had come so 
far to see fading into the dim distance. 

The day was one of superb beauty. We turned 
Westward, the view almost indescribabl}^ entranc- 
ing; the sea dark blue along shore, deep green 
farther out; the houses in the bright sunlight show- 
ing up the tinted pinks, blues and greens, the shades 
of yellow and browns, the dark red roofs, the back- 



ground of verdant veg^etation, and over all the blue 
sky, flecked here and there with a tiny cloud. 

But now we must think of many things beside 
the beautiful. I have written you my last letter of 
Cuba and a few impressions, and am called to other 
work, as the dinner has been announced. The air 
is bracing and my appetite in trim. This steamer 
has a good steward, a German cook, and he serves 
five meals a day, and an imitation breakfast, if you 
want it, real early — a real nice breakfast at seven. 
As it was too hot in Havana to eat much, and my 
many years of training on Northern cooking sort of 
put me out of line on the Havana style of food, I 
am promising myself that I will enjoy a few extra 
meals. This letter will be mailed March 9th at 
Progresso and should reach Chicago March 19th. 



77 



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